Friday Fictioneers – Legend

Perhaps it was because his parents called him Darius. Bearing the name of an ancient conqueror carries its own risks. At all events, Darry played a long game only he understood.

“Who does it harm?” he’d say when we questioned his project. For 25 years he quarried and shaped, assembled and carved. In secret, he overwrote the landscape of his extensive estates with temples and amphitheatres, statuary and canals.

“Darry,” I said to him one day, “this is a Disneyworld, a fantasy.”

“Now.” He nodded. “Sure. But in a thousand years, who’ll be certain?”

Darius was inventing a legend.

Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here.

Nice one.
He is leaving a legacy Darry the builder. Historically there has been confusion about the ancient conqueror – King Darius. He is mentioned in the Bible as Darius the Mede. While others say that he was actually from Persia. It all goes to show that one man’s Mede is another man’s Persian.

What a great concept for your story! You tell it really well, too. I love the way you capture his friend’s exasperation with “this is a Disneyworld, a fantasy.” And yet his ambition is so overweening that even that comment doesn’t upset Darius in the least! Super story, Neil.

There’s a passage in Ecclesiastes where Solomon says (I’m paraphrasing) that the materials treasures we’ve accumulated won’t be considered precious by our heirs. We all want to create something that will last, but after we’re gone–who knows.